Current Reviews
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January 30, 2025Frontside – Daniel BergThis composition is a true gem! In line with many of Daniel Berg’s compositions, this piece features expert percussion writing that is creative yet challenging.
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January 30, 2025Paradies – Claus Bantzer – arr. Stephan Krause“Paradies” is a quintet for an intermediate percussion ensemble. Originally written for the quartet Elbtonal Percussion, Stephan Krause arranged the piece for five players to include a pre-recorded fifth part that was added to Elbtonal’s recording.
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January 30, 2025Pizzicato Ostinato – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – arr. David SteinquestThis arrangement of a passage from Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 4” translates quite well to marimba.
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January 30, 2025Prelude to a Gong Solo – John R. Hearnes“Prelude to a Gong Solo” is a medium-level percussion ensemble piece that brings a unique flair to any program.
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January 30, 2025Ran Kan Kan – Tito Puente – arr. Lalo Davila“El Rey de los Timbales” was the nickname of Tito Puente: bandleader, composer, and timbalero. He found great success performing and writing original mambos and Latin jazz music, one being “Ran Kan Kan.”
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January 30, 2025Sueños Grandes – Lalo DavilaThis stellar Lalo Davila Latin ensemble chart features the familiar melody of “Sueños,” a foundation building, four-mallet marimba solo that many percussionists have performed from Julie Davila’s collection Impressions on Wood.
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January 30, 2025Tapestry – Josh WalkerThis work is perfectly named. In around three minutes, Josh Walker weaves several interesting themes together that are sure to be a fun challenge for the targeted 8th- or advanced 7th-grade percussionist.
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January 30, 2025Crawling Cobra – Jacopo PisapiaPromoted as “a visceral musical experience that embodies the sinuous movements of a snake,” this 5½-minute solo makes good use of familiar multiple-percussion setups (anchored around bongos, toms, bass drum) while incorporating extended performance techniques, such as scraping a chain across the toms to mimic the movement of a snake across the surface.
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January 30, 2025Echoes A (Memories of Agbogbloshie) – Maximilian Wolfgang Schwartz“Echoes A” is a thought-provoking and wonderfully complex work for solo multi-percussion.
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January 30, 2025Sonata – Jacopo PisapiaJacopo Pisapia describes his “Sonata” for multiple percussion as “a series of events which design different landscapes located in the future.
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January 30, 2025Concerto for Trombone and Percussion – Daniel BergDaniel Berg’s “Concerto for Trombone and Percussion” is an economical work in five movements that smartly captures the audience’s attention by darting from one percussive texture to the next through each of the movements.
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January 30, 2025Cultural Dysfunction – Emil KuyumcuyanWritten for one pianist and one percussionist, this is a whirlwind of a piece! Although the score calls for two vibraphones, if only one is available the prepared vibraphone part can be played on a normal one.
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January 30, 2025Four Elements – Daniel BergViolinist Tobias Granmo and marimbist Daniel Berg held four academic seminars in collaboration with other arts disciplines.
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January 30, 2025On a Mission – Kyle H. Peters“On a Mission” offers a highly energetic ensemble piece with a minimal setup, perfect for the high school looking to dive into percussion ensemble without pulling out several cymbals, accessories, or keyboards at each rehearsal.
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January 30, 2025Kinkaku-Ji – Daniel BergDaniel Berg’s “Kinkaku-Ji” is a six-minute duet for alto flute and vibraphone with gong.
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January 30, 2025Cofinity – John Marshall“Cofinity” was written for two large, differently pitched, single-headed frame drums, but the composer allows for performance of this duet on other hand drums or percussion instruments of different pitches.
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January 30, 2025Ghanaian Xylophone Music for Marimba – Aaron Bebe Sukura and Patrick RouletVery rarely does a resource like Ghanaian Xylophone Music for Marimba come along, and I fully expect it to find immediate success within the percussion-education community.
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January 30, 2025A Percussion Life Conga Book – Eric Perez and Robert J. DammCreated as an accompanimental document to a collection of YouTube videos by Eric Perez, this digital method book contains 147 conga patterns and 21 bongo patterns, fully notated and with embedded links to video examples.
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January 30, 2025Taper – John Marshall“Taper” is a quartet for frame drums that utilizes repetitive motifs, patterns, and phrases to create a hypnotic and mesmerizing seven-minute work.
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January 30, 2025The Daily Drummer – David WhitmanThis 28-day plan strives to develop one’s coordination, timekeeping, and phasing in a number of musical genres.
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January 30, 2025Breaking Stretch – Patricia Brennan SeptetThis album from vibraphonist/marimbist Patricia Brennan features a slightly larger ensemble than her previous recordings as a bandleader.
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January 30, 2025Cold Stability – Christopher WhyteFeaturing unaccompanied percussionist Christopher Whyte, this 50-minute CD contains four tracks.
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January 30, 2025Duke & Strays Live – Day DreamDrummer Phil Haynes, pianist Steve Rudolph, and bassist Drew Gress recorded this two-CD set live at Bucknell University.
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January 30, 2025Inherit a Memory – The Noonan TrioThis trio consists of drummer/composer/vocalist Sean Noonan, pianist Matthew Bourne, and double bassist Michael Bardon.
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January 30, 2025Rusty Burge Organ Trio (Self Titled) – Rusty Burge Organ TrioVibraphonist Rusty Burge teams up with organist Dan Karlsberg and drummer Steve Houghton for this recording, which starts with a swinging arrangement of Bobby Hutcherson’s composition “Herzog.”
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January 30, 2025Stars Above – Duo LinLynnStars Above is an album of keyboard percussion works released by Duo LinLynn, a chamber group composed of WeiChen Lin and Lynn Vartan.
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January 30, 2025Ups and Downs – Ulf Degeby and Daniel BergThis new marimba solo with tape accompaniment is a collaboration in which Ulf Degeby created the tape part and Daniel Berg created the marimba score.
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January 30, 2025When the Sun Goes Down – Heng LiuFocusing specifically on hand percussion, “When the Sun Goes Down” is a work for solo multiple percussion and tape.
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January 30, 2025Fusion & La Buena Vida – Daniel BergThese two pieces by percussionist Daniel Berg were written for himself and guitarist Christer Brodén in an effort to compose music of equal difficulty for the two players.
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January 30, 2025Impure – Emil Kuyumcuyan“Impure” is a virtuosic marimba solo composed for Marta Klimasara, a teacher of the composer.
